Rest in Peace....

Gary Everett Pennock, 54, of Detroit IL passed away, Thursday, March 25, 2010 at Regional Medical Center in Memphis, TN. Gary was born December 17, 1955 in Pittsfield, IL. a son of Everett and Lois Reel Pennock

Gary was a graduate of East Pike High School and attended the Detroit United Methodist Church. He was employed at JBS United, Griggsville, IL as a truck driver and was the owner of Gary Pennock trucking. Gary enjoyed riding his Harley Davidson and his four wheeler, was an avid fan of Jeff Gordon on the NASCAR circuit, going to coffee and sitting at the “Liar’s Table”, collecting Bi-Centennial quarters, and greatly loved being with his grandchildren.

His special companion, Lori Thornton of Detroit, and four children, Ryan Smith and his mother Maria Smith of Milton, IL, Michael Lawson of Chambersburg, IL, Heather Robinson of Detroit and Hillary Pennock of Springfield, IL survive along with five grandchildren, Matthew Fowler, Zachary Robinson, Kaitlyn Robinson, Peyton Lawson, and Jaren Lawson.

Four brothers and two sisters survive, Roger (Brenda) Pennock and Jerry (Wanda) Pennock both of Detroit, Jamie (Brandi) Pennock, John (Lisa) Pennock and Reggie (Kim) Pennock all of Pittsfield; Marcia (Kay) Dehart of Pittsfield and Nancy (Dick) Lomelino of Detroit along with stepmother, Bev Littleton of Pittsfield, several aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews.

Gary was preceded in death by his parents Everett Pennock and Lois Miller and stepfather, Lloyd Miller.

Services will be held at 11 a.m., Monday, March 29, 2010 at the Niebur Funeral Home in Pittsfield with Rev. Dave Kelly and Pastor Glenna Pruitt officiating. Interment will be in the Blue River Cemetery near Detroit with a lunch following at the Detroit Town Hall. Visitation will be held Sunday evening, March 28 from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the funeral home.

Memorials are suggested to the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association or the donor’s choice.

Condolences may be sent to the family at info@nieburfh.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Niebur Funeral Home in Pittsfield is handling the arrangements.

Ladies, Springfest, Flyers and more!

Well, life's been busy, so I am just now getting to the blog update. But I do have plenty to share, so here it goes...

Two ladies have joined the family. Joe and Gina found out they are having a girl, Cheyenne. Here is the proof:


The second lady is Jewel, a 3-year-old, 120-pound Mastiff my parents have adopted. Word is that she is sweet and tolerant. I am looking forward to seeing what other over-sized pets my parents plan to add to the dog and turtles in their backyard.



Will was tested for enriched education and the results came in. As I am sure most of the family could guess, he is very bright and we will be meeting with the school staff to discuss his options. The results are below.


Rodney's unit had a family event Saturday, Springfest 2010. The best part was the huge kickball game... the team the Guthrie's were on, won, 6-5.










The last weekend game in the Pensacola Ice Flyers inaugural season was Saturday, so, of course, we had to go. Their last regular season game is tomorrow, but due to baseball and softball games, we won;lt be able to go. Looking forward to next season!




Grandma Nancy arrives Friday afternoon and will surprise the boys when she picks them up at daycare and takes them to dinner. Rodney and I will be at the Pen Air Federal Credit Union charity golf tournament to benefit the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society. I'll be working and Rodney will be playing... and it's supposed to be a beautiful day! Looking forward to escaping the office for awhile.

Also, please keep Rodney's family in your prayers. His Mom's cousin, Gary Pennock, was unloading his tractor-trailer in Memphis and was hit by another truck. He is not doing well, and his immediate family was flown in to Tennessee to be with him. They are having a tough time stablizing him, he suffered a heart attack while in surgery and is now on life support. Our prayers are with him and his family tonight.

Ice Flyers, green beer and cowbells...

A local Mexican restaurant, Tequila Mexico, is trying to boost up business (someone should tell them that their food sucks, that may be why business is so bad, but I digress) so they sponsored a special St. Patrick's Day celebration with a local radio station and some of the Pensacola Ice Flyers hockey players. I heard about it on the radio, and thought the boys might enjoy meeting the players. So all three boys grabbed their Pen Air Federal Credit Union-Ice Flyers cow bells and we headed off to the restaurant.

The Flyers were very, very kind to the kids, signing their cowbells with the Sharpie I remembered to bring. Especially Right Wing Joey Hughes, who took extra time so I could get a photo of him with the boys. I SOMEHOW forgot my camera, so these photos were taken with my iPhone. Not great in the low lighting with flashing DJ lights, but it's better than nothing. Oh, and they were also nice to Rodney, who also asked to have his cowbell signed.

I have no idea why some of these are posting upside down and I need to go to bed sometime tonight, so just turn your heads or your monitors - whichever is easiest. :)






And here is the green beer, as promised. Rodney said it tasted awful.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Perdido Bay Youth Baseball Opening Day

The Perdido Bay Pen Air Federal Credit Union 8U Blue Jays took to the field for the first time Saturday, which was the league's opening day, complete with team pictures, fundraisers and festivities. Rodney is coaching Will's team and Will is playing first base. He made about 8 plays Saturday.







I am Team Mom, having organized a ping pong ball fundraiser for the end-of-the-season party for the team and Xan is the bat boy, but was quite disappointed he could not get on the field and play with the boys like he does in practice. Hopefully next year he will be ready to play on his own team. He's already batting better than some of the kids on Will's team.



Our friend, Keith, is an announcer for an online sports talk radio show. He and another announcer called several of the Perdido games on Saturday, Will's being on of them.


You can listen in by visiting www.gulfcoastsportstalk.com and click on the archived shows. Both Will and Rodney are interviewed about the game, and I am interviewed about Pen Air (the credit union is one of the site's sponsors) during Will's game and during the 10U game played at the same time.

Looking back a few hundred years...

... I got some free tickets to the local Renaissance Fair, so we headed out to the Pensacola Fairgrounds to take it in. Will and Xan had a great time. Tied in with the entertainment was some education. The blacksmith explained how she could reach temperatures of 2,300-3,000 degrees with coal and how she shapes the steel.


All three boys enjoyed watching the belly dancers.


A set of stocks was available for Kodak moments - Will refused to smile because people in stocks don't smile.


I told Rodney that this is what I would like to be for Halloween... a tall, walking tree.


Will and Xan played the Frog Splat. Xan actually got his frog in one of the baskets ad won a goldfish, which he named Fishy Fish. Guess it won't be going in with the rest of the goldfish in the turtle tank, since it has a name.



While Xan turned down the opportunity to learn how to sword fight, Will jumped on it with enthusiasm. And he really did learn some techniques.






The joust was the last show before the fair closed, and the one the boys most wanted to see. Will really liked Sir Marcus, who hailed from Ohio and came in second place.







We bought Will a piece of lance, which Sir Marcus signed. The group uses rescued horses for the show and the $5 donation goes toward the program.